Wednesday, August 26, 2009

This winter, we finally made the pilgrimage to Logan's Beach, a whale nursery in western Victoria, in the hope of glimpsing a Southern Right Whale. In anticipation of a long wait, we had brought along a thermos, a couple of books and even Scrabble.

In the end there was no need: as we joined the other whale watchers at the lookout, we immediately spotted four cows and two calves.

It was amazing how close these beautiful creatures were to the beach. Most of the time, you can really only see the top of their long black bodies (maybe you can see a whale about a quarter of the way down in the photo above), but we did the occasional fin when the whales were body rolling or, more magnificently, a glimpse of a whale's mouth as she skyhopped.

Although the weather turned the next day, to the pleasure of all us crazies braving the wind and rain at the lookout, we managed to spot a tail (more images here). The whales will head to the Antarctic soon, but are in Australian waters for a few more weeks if you're keen.

Of course, my favourite thing to do on a country road trip is visit the local op shops and markets. We bought fresh produce, a bucket of honey and a large assortment of CWA-style biscuits and treats - think anzac biscuits, jam drops, yo-yo biscuits and jelly cakes (our absolute favourite). Oldies but so good(ies).

We also picked up a couple of plates: the first with a sweet floral design, maybe to serve jelly cakes?And I love the pattern on this oven proof plate. It's oval in shape and the perfect size for steaming a fish in the wok.